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THE  PROPOSED 


SUFFRAGE 


AMENDMENT. 


The  Platform  and  Resolutions 


OF  THE 


People's  Party. 


0 


The  Suffrage  Amendment, 


The  Suffrage  Amendment  submitted  by  the  Legislature  of 
1899,  is  as  follows  ; 

Section  1.  That  Article  VI  of  the  Constitution  of  North 
Carolina  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  abrogated,  and  in  lieu  thereof 
shall  be  substituted  the  following  Article'of  said  Constitution: 

ARTICLE  VI. 

SUFFRAGE    AND    ELIGIBILITY    TO  OFFICE — QUALIFICATIONS  OF 
AN    ELECTOR. 

Section  1.  Every  male  person  born  in  the  United  States,  and 
every  male  person  who  has  been  naturalized,  twenty- one  years 
of  age  and  possessing  the  qualifications  set  out  in  this  Article 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  any  election  by  the  people  in  the  State, 
except  as  herein  otherwise  provided. 

Sec.  2.  He  shall  have  resided  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina 
for  two  years,  in  the  county  six  months,  and   in   the   precinct, 
ward  or  other  election  district  in   which   he  offers   to   vote   four 
months  next  preceding  the  election  :  Provided,  that  removal  from 
one  precinct,  ward  or  other  election   district   to  another   in  the 
same  county,  shall  not  operate  to  deprive  any  person  of  the  right 
to  vote  in  a  precinct,  ward  or  other  election  district  from  which 
he  has  removed  until  four  months  after  such  removal.     No  per- 
son who  has  been  convicted,  or  who   has   confessed    his  guilt  in 
open   court   upon   indictment  of  any  crime,  the   punishment  of 
which  now  is,  or   may  hereafter  be,  imprisonment  in   the  State 
prison,  shall  be  permitted  to  vote  unless  the  said  person  shall  be 
first  restored  to  citizenship  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 
v<?       Sec.  3.  Every  person  offering  to  vote  shall  be  at  the  time  a 
5*  legally  registered  voter  as  herein  prescribed  and  in  the  manner 
9 
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ri 
a, 


4 


Hereinafter  provided  by  law,  and  the  General  Assembly  of  North 
Carolina  shall  enact  general  registration  laws  to  carry  into  effecfe 
the  provisions  of  this  Article. 

Sec.  4.  Every  person  presenting  himself  for  registration  shalS 
be  able  to  read  and  write  any  section  of  the  Constitution  in  the 
English  language;  and,  before  he  shall  be  entitled  to  vote,  he 
shall  have  paid,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  March  of  the  year 
in  which  he  proposes  to  vote,  his  poll  tax,  as  prescribed  by  law, 
for  the  previous  year.  Poll  taxes  shall  be  a  lien  only  on  assessed 
property,  and  no  process  shall  issue  to  enforce  the  collection  of 
the  same,  except  against  assessed  property. 

Sec.  5.  No  male  person,  who  was  on  January  17  1867,  or  at 
any  time  prior  thereto,  entitled  to  vote  under  the  laws  of  any 
State  in  the  United  States  wherein  he  then  resided,  and  no  lin- 
eal descendant  of  any  such  person;  shall  be  denied  the  right  to 
register  and  vote  at  any  election  in  this  State  by  reason  of  his 
failure  to  possess  the  educational  qualifications  prescribed  in  sec- 
tion 4  of  this  Article  :  Provided,  he  shall  have  registered  io 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  section  prior  to  Dec.  1,  1908, 

The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  a  permanent  record 
of  all  persons  who  register  under  this  section  on  or  before  No- 
vember 1,  1908,  and  all  such  persons  shall  be  entitled  to  regis- 
ter and  vote  at  all  elections  by  the  people  in  this  State,  uuless 
disqualified  under  section  2  of  this  Article:  Provided,  such  per- 
sons shall  have  paid  their  poll  tax  as  required  by  law. 

Sec.  6.  All  elections  by  the  people  shall  be  by  ballot,  and  all 
elections  by  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  viva  voce. 

Sec.  7.  Every  voter  in  North  Carolina,  except  as  in  this  Arti- 
cle disqualified,  shall  be  eligible  to  office,  but  before  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  the  office  he  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  fol- 
lowing oath  :  "  I, ,  do  solemnly  swear  or  affirm,  that 

I  will  support  and  maintain  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  North  Carolina, 
not  inconsistent  therewith,  and  that  I  will  faithfully  discharge 
the  duties  of  my  office  as So  help  me,  God." 

Sec.  8.  The  following  classes  of  persons  shall  be  disqualified 
for  office :  First,  all  persons  who  shall  deny  the  being  of  Al- 


mighty  God  ;  secoud,  all  persons  who  shall  ha\re  been  convicted 
or  confessed  their  guilt  on  indictment  pending,  and  whether  sen- 
tenced or  not;  or  under  judgment  suspended,  of  any  treason  or 
felony,  or  any  other  crime  for  which  the  punishment  may  he 
imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  since  becoming  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  corruption  and  malpractice  in  cffice,  unless 
such  person  shall  be  restored  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  in  a 
manner  prescribed  by  law. 


PEOPLE'S  PARTY  PLATFORM. 


Adopted  Unanimously  in  Convention,  April  18, 1900. 


The  People's  Party  Convention  assembled  in  Raleigh,  April 
18th,  reaffirms  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  People's  Party  Na- 
tional platform  adopted  at  St.  Louis  in  1896,  and  instructs  the 
delegates  to  the  National  Convention  at  Sioux  Falls  May  9th  to 
vote  for  the  nomination  of  William  J.  Bryan  for  President. 

We  commend  the  present  State  Administration  for  its  high 
persona]  and  official  integrity,  and  challenge  a  comparison  of 
its  record  with  any  and  all  of  its  predecessors. 

Extravagance  and  Incompetence  Condemned. 

We  condemn  the  Democratic  Legislature  of  1899  for  its  ex- 
travagant expenditures  of  public  money,  amounting  to  $1,594,- 
765.76  in  1899,  as  opposed  to  $1,283,971.11,  expended  by  the 
preceding  Lfgislature,  an  excess  of  $310,794.65,  not  including 
the  sum  of  $100,000  for  public  education  nor  the  $63,250  for 
purchase  of  State  farms. 

We  further  condemn  said  Legislature  for  the  careless  blunder- 
ing and  careless  legislation,  including  more  gross  blunders  and 
unconstitutional  laws  than  ever  before  enacted  by  any  General 
Assembly  in  North  Carolina. 

Violation  of  Solemn  Pledges  Denounced. 

We  further  denounce  the  machine  leaders  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  laying  the  whip  on  the  backs  of  the  Democratic  Legis- 
lators and  forcing  them  into  enacting  and  submitting  a  disfran- 
chising, constitutional  amendment  in  violation  of  the  solemn 
pledges  of  the  party,  made  not  only  officially  in  their  campaign 
handbook,  but  by  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and  other 
Democratic  candidates  for  office  in  their  canvass  before  the  people. 


Unconstitutional  Measures  and  Disfranchisement  of 
White  Voters  Opposed. 

We  denounce  them  not  only  fordoing  this  in  violation  of  their 
pledges,  but  also  for  submitting  a  measure  most  odious  in  form 
and  dangerous  in  effect.  That  General  Assembly  baing  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  best  lawyers  of  the  party,  must  have  kuown, 
or  at  least  had  a  reasonable  doubt,  not  only  as  to  the  unconstitu- 
tionality of  the  monstrous  provision  of  Section  5,  kuown  as  the 
"  grandfather  clause"  in  said  amendment,  but  also  of  the  great 
danger  of  that  unconstitutional  section  falling,  leaving  the  re- 
mainder of  the  amendment  to  stand,  thus  disfranchising  by  an 
educational  qualification  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  white  voters  of 
North  Carolina,  who  in  1898  gave  the  Democratic  party  power 
in  the  Legislature,  and  whose  ignorance  is  no  fault  of  their  own, 
but  is  chargeable  to  the  neglect  of  the  Democratic  party,  which 
now  seeks  to  disfranchise  them  aud  make  their  ignorance  a  crime 
alongside  that  of  the  felon. 

Obnoxious  Discrimination. 

But  even  if  the  proposed  amendment  were  not  unconstitutional 
(as  it  clearly  is),  still  it  is  especially  objectionable  in  the  follow- 
ing particulars  : 

(a)  In  that  it  dignifies  with  the  right  of  suffrage  the  most  vi- 
c'iolh,  troublesome  aud  obnoxious  class  of  the  negro  population, 
and  completely  disfranchises  the  most  faithful,  kindly  and  or- 
derly element  of  that  race. 

White  and  Colored  Voters  Classed  Together  by  the 
Democratic  Machine. 

(b)  In  that,  while  clamoring  for  white  supremacy  and  declar- 
ing that  no  white  man  shall  be  disfranchised  under  this  amend- 
ment, they  have  so  written  their  amendment  that  every  white 
boy  becoming  of  age  after  1908  stands  on  the  same  footing  with 
the  negro,  and  cannot  vote  unless  he  is  able  to  read  and  write. 


White  Voters  Discriminated  Against. 

(c)  In  that  by  the  latter  provision,  they  have  made  it  possible 
for  the  educated  negro  after  1908  to  cast  his  ballot,  while  the  un- 
fortunate sons  of  the  white  men  who  have  been  the  strength  of 
true  democracy  stand  without  a  vote  at  the  ballot  box.  They 
slaughter  the  suffrage  of  the  son  whose  father  they  dare  not 
openly  attack. 

(<l)  In  that  this  suffrage  amendment  does  not  remove  the  ne- 
gro from  politics  or  settle  the  negro  question  in  North  Carolina. 

Payment  of  Poll  Tax  a  Prerequisite  to  Voting. 

(e)  In  that  every  voter  who  has  not  paid  his  poll  tax  as  much 
as  five  months  before  the  State  election  and  eight  months  before 
the  national  election,  shall  be  disfranchised  as  much  as  if  he  were 
convicted  of  felony  or  were  an  iguoraut  negro.  The  purpose  of 
this  provision  is  not  only  to  disfranchise  every  good,  honest  citi- 
zen who  ^unfortunately  cannot  pay  his  taxes  by  the  first  of  March 
preceding  the  election,  but  further  to  try  to  bribe  the  voter  to 
surrender  his  suffrage  at  the  expense  of  the  public  school  fund  of 
the  State,  which  is  derived  from  the  poll  taxes. 

Scheme  to  Defraud  the  Public  School  Fund. 

There  links  behind  this  proposition  a  still  greater  danger  to 
the  public  schools  of  the  State,  for  with  the  adoption  of  the 
amendment  the  opponents  of  free  schools  in  North  Carolina  will 
at  once  raise  the  cry  that  every  dollar  raised  for  public  instruc- 
tion means  the  increase  of  the  number  of  negro  voters,  and  thus 
the  poor  white  man's  son  will  be  chained  in  bondage  of  iguo- 
rance  and  disfranchised  to  prevent  the  education  of  the  negro 
voter.     There  is  no  white  supremacy  in  this. 

The  Proposed  Amendment  Not  a  Party  Question. 

The  constitutional  question  presented  by  the  proposed  amend- 
ment is  one  that  must  be  determined  by  the  judgment  and  con- 
science of  each  individual  voter.  Therefore  we  do  not  make  it 
a  parly  question.      We  state  the  evils  and  dangers  and  leave  the 


9 


voters  of  all  parties  to  pass  their  verdict  in  the  light  of  the  facts. 
The  question  is  above  party,  and  no  one  should  be  more  active 
and  anxious,  in  our  judgment,  to  defeat  it  than  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Democratic  party. 

Best  Solution  of  a  Vexed  Question. 

The  People's  Party  is  and  has  always  been  more  distinctly 
than  any  other  party  in  North  Carolina  a  white  man's  party, 
and  is  more  anxious  than  any  other  party  to  solve  the  race  pro- 
blem, and  to  force  all  parties  to  a  discussion  of  the  great  econo- 
mic issues  so  vitally  affecting  the  welfare  of  all  wealth  producers, 
of  the  State  and  nation,  and  decency  in  politics. 

Therefore,  we  pro  pose ^  in  lieu  of  this  dangerous  amendment, 
the  best  solution  of  the  race  question  that  is  possible  as  long  as 
the  15th  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
stands — a  solution  which  deprives  no  white  man  in  North  Caro- 
lina now  or  hereafter  of  his  right  of  suffrage,  to  wit : 

Amend  section  5,  Article  6,  of  the  Constitution  of  North 
Catolina  by  inserting  among  the  disqualifications  for  office  enu- 
merated therein,  the  following,  viz:  All  negroes  and  all  persons 
of  negro  descent  to  the  third  generation  inclusive. 

If  the  Democratic  Legislature  which  meets  in  June  will  offer 
this  safe,  constitutional  and  wholesome  amendment  in  lieu  of  the 
present  scheme,  it  will  have  our  hearty  support.  If  they  will  not, 
we  appeal  to  the  people  to  rally  to  our  assistance  to  elect  a  Leg- 
islature pledged  to  support  such  an  amendment. 

Good  Government  for  Every  County. 

We  congratulate  the  people  of  North  Carolina  upon  the  de- 
cision of  the  State  Supreme  Court  in  the  case  of  Harris  vs. 
Wright.  (121  N.  C.  R.,  172),  declaring  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  power  to  provide  different  systems  of  County  government 
for  various  counties  of  the  State.  Acting  under  this  decision, 
we  pledge  the  People's  Party  to  the  maintenance  of  the  system 
of  local  self-government  in  all  the  white  counties,  towns  and 
cities  in  the  State  as  established  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
1895,  and  at  the  same  time  to  provide  and  maintain  a  legislative 
system  of  county  government  for  all  the  negro  counties  of  the 
State,  so  that  there  can  never  be  auy  question  that  the  white 
people  t-hal I  always  have  full  and  complete  control  of  every 
county  in  the  State. 


10 
Election  Law  of  1899  Denounced. 

We  denounce  the  Democratic  Legislature  of  1899  for  passing  an 
election  law,  every  provision  of  which  is  carefully  and  cunningly 
planned  and  devised  to  thwart  the  sovereign  will  of  the  people 
of  North  Carolina  by  wholesale  fraud  and  debauchery  of  the 
ballot  box.  We  declare,  without  fear  of  sucessful  contradiction, 
that  it  is  the  most  partisan,  unfair,  infamous  and  indefensible 
election  law  that  has  ever  disgraced  the  statute  books  of  any 
State  in  the  Union. 

Public  School  System. 

We  pledge  ourself  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  public  school 
system  in  North  Carolina,  and  point  to  the  fact  that  the  People's 
Party  has  done  more  for  public  education  in  North  Carolina 
than  the  Democratic  party  ever  did  in  twice  the  length  of  time. 
To  the  Populists  of  North  Carolina  is  to  be  credited  the  first 
great  increase  in  the  public  school  system. 

Charitable  Institutions. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  the  care  of  the  unfortunate  class  in 
North  Carolina  and  to  an  increase  in  the  necessary  facilities  for 
the  same.  As  an  earnest  of  our  sincerity,  we  point  to  our  past 
record  in  this  particular,  and  say  that  no  "  Legislature  in  which 
Populists  have  had  a  controlling  voice  has  ever  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  demand  of  the  unfortunate,  or  been  followed  by  an 
urgent  appeal  for  additional  provision  as  has  been  recently  issued 
by  the  Board  of  Public  Charities,  because  of  the  failure  of  the 
Democratic  Legislature  to  make  such  provision  as  was  seen  and 
urgently  needed  at  the  time  they  were  consuming  their  time  in 
enacting  political  legislation  and  creating  new  offices  during  the 
session  of  1899. 

Labor  and  Capital. 

Labor  is  indispensable  to  the  creation  and  profitable  use  of 
capital.  Capital  increases  the  efficiency  aud  value  of  labor. 
Whoever  arrays  one  against  the  other  is  an  enemy  of  both. 
That  policy  is  wisest  und  best,  which  harmonizes  the  two  on  the 
basis  of  absolute  justice. 


11 


RESOLUTIONS 


Adopted  by  the  State  People's  Party 
Convention,  April  18,  1900. 


Unjust  Provisions  of  the  Election  Law, 

Whereas,  The  present  election  law,  enacted  by  the  last  Leg- 
islature, contains  many  glaringly  unjust  provisions,  among  which 
may  be  noted  the  following: 

1.  The  provision  in  section  10  giving  the  County  Election 
Board  the  power  to  put  more  than  a  thousand  voters  in  one  elec- 
tion precinct. 

2.  The  provision  in  section  11  giving  to  the  registrar,  an  offi- 
cer who  is  not  even  sworn  or  required  to  be  sworn  by  the  law, 
unlimited  power  and  discretion  to  deny  registration  to  almost 
any  voter,  aud  at  the  same  time  deny  to  the  elector  the  right  of 
appeal,  no  matter  how  grave  and  glaring  an  injustice  may  be 
done  him  by  that  registrar. 

3.  The  provision  contaiued  in  section  23,  requiring  even  the 
illiterate  white  voter  to  deposit  each  one  of  the  six  ballots, 
to  be  used  in  the  next  election,  in  six  different  boxes,  aud  to  be 
deposited  in  the  right  box  or  else  lose  his  vote;  without  making 
it  the  duty  of  the  judge  of  the  electiou  to  deposit  his  ballot  for 
him  upon  his  request,  thus  disfranchising,  at  this  election,  thou- 
sands of  white  voters. 

4.  The  provision  of  section  17  denying  to  opposing  political 
parties  the  right  of  representation  of  their  own  selection  on  elec- 
tion boards. 

5.  The  provision  in  section  25  providing  for  the  appointment 
of  three  election  bailiffs  or  constables,  with  full  authority  to  sum- 
mon an  unlimited  number  of  others  to  assist  them  to  not  only 
overawe  aud  intimidate,  but  also  to  arrest  without  warrant  and 
in  their  discretion,  any  elector,  and  to  hold  him  under  arrest  for 
twenty-four  hours  without  trial,  thus   depriving   him   not  only 


12 


of  his  liberty,  but  also  his  vote,  and  which  is   more  odious  and 
damaging  than  the  uotorrious  Federal   Election  Force  Bill. 

Purposes  of  The  Election  Law. 

And,  whereas,  the  purpose  of  such  provisions  in  any  election 
law  can  only  be  for  stealing  votes  and  overturning  the  sovereign 
will  of  the  people,  preventing  its  expression  at  the  ballot-box — 

Amendments  Demanded  at  the  June  Meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

Now,  therefore,  be  it 
Resolved  by  the  People's  Party  in  State  Convention  assembled, 
that  in  order  to  remove  some  of  the  most  glaring  provisions  of 
this  election  law,  aud  to  prevent  some  of  the  most  odious  abuses 
that  would  be  perpetrated  under  it,  we  appeal  to  every  honest 
citizen  of  North  Carolina  to  demand  of  the  Democratic  Legisla- 
ture, when  it  meets  in  June,  to  adopt  at  least  the  following 
amendments  to  said   law,  viz.: 

(a)  Amend  section  17  by  inserting  after  the  words  "political 
party  "  in  the  end  of  line  6,  the  following : 

"  Provided,  that  the  State  Chairman  of  the  Democratic,  Re- 
publican, and  People's  Parties,  respectively,  shall  have  the  right 
on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  July  to  nominate  to  the  said 
County  Boards  of  Election  in  every  county  iu  the  State,  one 
person  with  above  qualifications  for  judges  of  election  in  each 
precinct,  and  if  such  nominations  are  made  bvauy  or  all  of  said 
chairmen,  then  said  County  Boards  of  Election  shall  appoint 
said  judges  of  election  from  the  names  so  nominated  to  them 
respectively. 

%;  $z  ^c  %  %  ^ 

(b)  Amend  section  10  by  inserting  in  line  11  after  the  word 
"altered,"  the  following: 

Provided,  that  no  election  precinct  shall  contain  more  than 
four  hundred  electors. 


13 


(c)  Amend  section  23  in  line  20  by  inserting  after  the  word 
"enclosure,"  the  following  : 

Provided,  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judges  of  election 
upon  the  request  of  any  voter  to  take  his  ballots  and  deposit 
them  in  the  proper  boxes. 

Unlimited  Power  to  Registrars  Opposed. 

Whereas,  the  only  excuse  that  the  Democratic  party  has  ad- 
vanced for  the  unlimited  power  and  discretion  given  to  the  reg- 
istrars in  section  11,  is  what  they  claim  to  be  the  danger  of  col- 
onization, therefore, 

Resolved,  that  section  1 1  be  amended  by  adding  the  following 
proviso,  namely : 

Provided,  that  the  above  qualifications  for  the  registering  of 
an  elector  shall  not  apply  to  any  elector  offering  to  register  who 
can  prove  on  the  oath  of  himself  and  one  other  elector,  if  re- 
quired to  do  so,  that  he  has  been  a  citizen  of  the  State  for  twelve 
months,  a  citizen  of  the  county  in  which  he  offers  to  register  for 
ninety  days,  and  is  an  actual  and  bona  fide  resident  of  the  pre- 
cinct in  which  he  offers  to  vote. 

(d)  Provided  further,  that  any  person  denied  registration  shall 
have  the  right  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  registrar  de- 
nying him  registration  to  the  resident  or  presiding  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  in  the  district  wherein  he  resides,  and  on  such 
appeal  the  hearing  shall  be  de  novo. 

Any  person  denied  registration  and  desiring  to  appeal  must 
within  ten  days  after  the  decision  of  the  registrar  is  made,  file 
with  the  said  registrar  a  written  notice  of  his  intention  to  appeal 
therefrom,  and  thereupon  the  registrar  shall  certify  all  papers  in 
the  case  within  twenty-four  hours  from  the  filing  of  the  notice  to 
the  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in  the  county  wherein  he  resides, 
who  shall  in  turn  forward  the  certified  papers  in  the  case  to  the 
resident  Judge  or  the  Judge  presiding  in  the  district,  who  shall, 
without  unnecessary  delay,  hear  and  determine  the  matter  and 
certify  his  decision  to  the  registrar  from  whom  the  case  was 
brought;  and  if  it  is  the  decision  of  the  Judge  that  the  appli- 
cant is  entitled  to  register  and  vote,  and  if  said  decision  shall  be 


14 

delivered  to  the  registrar  at  any  time  before  the  closing  of  the 
polls  on  election  day,  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  register  the  name 
on  the  books,  and  the  applicant  shall  be  entitled  to  vote. 

If  any  Registrar  or  Clerk  of  the  Court  shall  neglect  or  refuse 
to  send  up  the  appeal  as  herein  directed,  or  comply  with  the  de- 
cision of  the  court  in  respect  thereto,  he  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor, and  upon  conviction  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  fifty 
dollars  or  imprisoned  not  less  than  thirty  days,  or  both,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  court. 

Partisan  "  Constables  "  and  "  Bailiffs  "  at  the  Polls 

Opposed. 

That  Section  25  be  repealed. 


(MsST Section  25  reads  as  follows  : 

"Sec.  25.  The  registrar  and  judges  of  election  may  appoint 
as  many  election  constables  or  bailiffs,  not  to  exceed  three,  as 
they  may  deem  necessary  for  each  precinct  or  ward,  to  be  pres- 
ent during  the  election  to  keep  the  peace  and  to  protect  the  voting 
place,  and  to  prevent  improper  intrusion  upon  the  voting  place, 
or  the  booths  or  railed  or  roped  space  provided  in  this  act,  or 
interfering  with  the  election,  and  to  arrest  all  persons  creating 
auy  disturbance  about  the  voting  place,  and  to  enable  all  persons 
who  have  not  voted,  and  who  desire  to  vote,  to  have  unobstruc- 
ted access  to  the  polls,  for  the  purpose  of  voting  when  others  are 
not  votiug,  and  to  keep  clear  the  open  space,  hereinbefore  pro- 
vided, at  all  times  during  the  election.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  election  constables  or  bailiffs  to  be  present  at  the  voting 
place,  and  to  take  such  steps  as  WILL  ACCOMPLISH  THE 
OBJECT  OF  THEIR  APPOINTMENT,  and  they  shall 
HAVE  FULL  POWER  TO  DO  SO.  And  they  may  sum- 
mon to  their  aid  all  persons  present  at  the  voting  place,  and  may 
arrest  offenders  against  this  section,  AND  HOLD  THEM  IN 
CUSTODY  as  long  as  may  be  necessary,  not  to  exceed  twenty- 
four  hours.  And  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  powers 
herein  conferred  upon  them,  the  registrar  and  judges  of  election 
shalt  be  and  are  hereby  constituted  conservators  of  the  peace.") 


15 


Partisan  Election  Board  and  Unnecessary  Offices 
Denounced. 

We  denounce  the  last  Democratic  Legislature  for  creating  an 
Election  Board  for  political  and  partisan  purposes,  and  forgiving 
to  said  Board  of  Election  the  power  to  meet  at  will  at  any  time 
and  place  in  the  State  and  remain  indefinitely  in  session,  draw- 
ing from  the  public  funds  of  the  State  twenty-eight  dollars  per 
day  and  expenses;  and  for  requiring  said  Board  of  Election  to 
appoint  a  county  board  of  election  in  each  county  in  the  State 
for  political  and  partisan  purposes,  and  paying  the  chairman  of 
said  county  board  $1.50  per  day  and  traveling  expenses  out  of 
the  county  funds  of  the  State. 

We  further  condemn  the  said  Legislature  for  creating  103  new 
and  unnecessary  offices,  for  political  and  partisan  purposes,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Counties  and  the  State. 


Goebel   Election   Law  Con- 
demned. 


One  of  the  Beneficiaries  Declares  that  It  Ought  to  be 

Repealed — Party  Machinery  should  be  Sim- 

lified  in  the  Interests  of  the  People. 


All  election  laws  authorizing  unfairness  and  fraud  are  of  a 
similar  character.  There  is  no  better  evidence  of  the  purpose 
and  plans  of  scheming  and  unscrupulous  office-seekers  to  legal- 
ize fraud  and  entourage  dishonesty,  than  the  enaction  of  such 
laws. 

The  Goebel  election  law  of  Kentucky,  which  has  been  de- 
nounced and  condemned  by  every  reputable  paper  in  the  country, 
is  of  the  same  character  as  the  present  election  law  in  this  State. 

Senator  Blackburn  of  Kentucky  (Democrat),  though  a  bene- 
ficiary of  that  law,  has  seen  the  "  handwriting  on  the  wall,"  and 
is  advocating  its  repeal.     It  is  the  kind   of  a   law  that  inspires 


16 

trouble  and  lawlessness,  and  none  of  the  honest,  reputable  people 
of  an  j  State  want  any  such  enactment  on  their  statute  books. 

Senator  Blackburn  recently  wrote  a  letter  to  Kentucky  in 
which  he  said  : 

"  The  present  election  law  was  passed  to  prevent  Republican 
frauds  through  the  mediation  of  the  county  judges  and  other 
election  officers  appointed  by  them  ;  not,  as  some  charge,  to  en- 
able the  Democrats  to  steal  the  election.  It  has  failed  of  its 
purpose,  as  is  shown  by  the  vote  on  final  account  at  the  last  elec- 
tion. Is  any  one  so  bigoted  that  he  would  refuse  to  amend  a 
law  because  the  original  framer  could  not  fully  anticipate  all  the 
schemes  and  wiles  of  the  ever-active  agencies  of  force  and  fraud  ? 
Election  laws  are  never  perfect,  and  must  be  constantly  changed 
to  meet  emergencies  as  they  arise. 

"  The  convention  should,  therefore,  declare  for  an  amendment 
to  the  present  election  law  so  as  to  give  to  each  of  the  two  lead- 
ing political  parties  majority  and  minority  representation  upon 
both  the  State  and  county  boards  of  election  commissioners,  and 
an  equal  division  of  election  officers  at  each  voting  precinct,  such 
prec'nct  officers  to  be  chosen  and  appointed  by  the  county  boards 
of  election  commissioners  from  a  list  to  be  furnished  by  each 
respective  party,  and  the  law  should  be  safe-guarded  with  fines, 
penalties  and  otherwise  as  to  protect  both  the  election  officers 
and  the  voter  from  force,  fraud,  corruption  and  intimidation  by 
corporations  and  employers  of  labor,  also  the  militia  of  the 
State,  the  police  force  of  cities  and  towns  and  all  other  public 
functionaries,  with  adequate  penalties  to  compel  all  persons  upon 
whom  any  duties  are  enjoined  relative  to  the  casting,  counting 
and  certifying  of  the  vote  to  honestly,  faithtully,  fairly  and 
promptly  discharge  the  same. 

"  As  auxiliary  to  this,  and  in  order  that  the  members  of  the 
party,  who  are  the  people,  may  be  satisfied  with  the  action  taken 
by  its  representatives  for  the  purpose  of  local  self-government, 
the  convention  should  provide  that  rules  be  adopted  authorizing 
and  empowering  the  members  of  the  party  organization  in  each 
precinct  to  select  their  own  committeemen,  chairman  and  other 
officers  and  change  and  remove  the  same  at  pleasure.  This  brings 
the  party  organization  as  near  the  people  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
conduct  of  these  officers,  who  are  likewise  responsible  to  the  peo- 
ple. It  prevents  all  centralization  of  power  in  a  goveruiug  com- 
mittee and  applies  to  our  party  organization  the  fundamental 
principles  of  our  government,  a  government  of  the  people,  the 
power  of  the  people  to  govern  and  control.  We  must  build 
from  the  people  up  if  we  would  succeed." 


This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO  WEEKS 
ONLY,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  FIVE 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.  It  was  taken  ,.©ut  on 
the  day  indicated  below. 


2}  198(1 

FEB  2  0  ;  !0 


Lib.  10M-Ap'34 


m\ 


